President Obama’s first reaction to the republicans after the midterm results: Let us find “common ground.” Absolutely amazing – but not surprising. Everything he gave them for the last two years only further empowered their resolve to destroy him – and any possible remaining chances for Progressive change. The “common ground” during that span was incessant corporate (Blue Dog) appeasement, which reflected Obama’s actual standing/commitment. Consequently, his original base was torn – in stages of revulsion. Anything learned? : “What the American people want is for us to mix and match ideas.” Wrong! The majority of citizens wanted the “Change” they were promised – not the same status quo, step-by-step sellouts prevalent since the Reagan years, or updated methods of watering down every measure to the point where the industrial/financial/military circle (neo-cons/neo-liberals) may as well have put forth/planned them themselves – yet openly.

“He noted that he engaged in closed-door, backroom deal-making to get his health care bill through Congress, but said it was necessary and the end justified the means.” The “end” was a Mandate (during a worldwide Recession/don’t dare call it a Second Depression) – without a Public Option: “If a mandate was a solution, we could try that to solve homelessness by mandating everyone buy a house.” The “means”: “These are the stock-in-trade tactics of the ‘power elite’ that C. Wright Mills wrote so poignantly about back in the 1950s.”

“It’s an ugly mess when it comes to process. That is something that really affected how people viewed the outcome. That is something that I regret . . . but I think the outcome was a good one.” The “process” was assured as one that would be renewed, to an honorable level. Instead, the “ugly mess” of corruption, behind closed doors, while being sold as something else, on stage, continued – and this, undoubtedly, “affected how people viewed the outcome” – but not just on health care; it “affected” how everything was “viewed” – overall. Moreover, since Obama’s degree of “regret” leaves him thinking “the outcome was [still] a good one,” and leads him to seek even more “common ground,” our society can be assured of what is on the horizon:

Senator Reid: “the biggest takeaway from this election is that the American people want compromise across party lines.” Yes, that’s the answer: more “compromise” – in one direction. And, those true colors never cease to reveal – as they continually dye each and every surface.

A “thanks” to Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers, Timothy Geithner, Ben Bernanke, Robert Gates, and all other summoned advisors for the relevant midterm “outcome” – and all that is soon to follow – due to our president’s “out of [a certain] touch” choices, without (leftist, professional or otherwise) “concessions.”

In relation to narratives created by Fox/Koch Brothers, etc., and what was the continuing mindset of the remaining Bush II minority, Obama appointed a biased Deficit Commission – during a Second Depression. At the same time, he “Put Social Security on the Table.” Then, the Deficit Commission’s (predetermined) recommendations were put off until after the midterms. Now, with a new House, Obama and the remaining Blue Dogs will seek even more of that (veil of) “Common Ground,” and “Compromise” – while we hear more about sacrificing.

[If FDR and his related Congresses had reacted as Obama and the last Congress, what is going to be (within two decades, maximum), would have already been – by 1945.

Prediction: The 2008 election was the last chance to turn a certain tide. Since it, instead, served primarily to expose who factually rules and whose side Congress and any President will stand on, we can now look forward to a never-ending series of corporate waves.]

“President Obama, the Rodney Dangerfield of 2010, gets no respect for” . . . telling us to “look forward, not backward” – after instilling the “forward” as what would be on election day, instead of the opposite.

“President Obama, the Rodney Dangerfield of 2010, gets no respect for” . . . blocking the release of a second set of torture photos – after promising the opposite.

“President Obama, the Rodney Dangerfield of 2010, gets no respect for” . . . human rights, as he continues the same abuses of his predecessor, with excuses of “possible future threats” (based on Minority Reports?), and information gleaned through torture – after inspiring a hopeful opposite.

“President Obama, the Rodney Dangerfield of 2010, gets no respect for” . . . bailing out Wall Street, without prompting a restoration of the Glass–Steagall Act, or providing relative relief to all the commoners who were purposely plundered – after portraying himself as a special interest opposite.

“President Obama, the Rodney Dangerfield of 2010, gets no respect for” . . . making secret deals with corporate executives, selling out the Public option, then signing a Mandate – after campaigning on the opposite.

“President Obama, the Rodney Dangerfield of 2010, gets no respect for” . . . “the dark cloud cast by” his willingness to defend extensions of unemployment checks, but not a National Jobs Program with teeth (i.e., one that is not $50 billion compared to $700 billion and loaded with even more Cheneyish tax cuts) – after attacking Bush II as his opposite.

“President Obama, the Rodney Dangerfield of 2010, gets no respect for” . . . failing to get his (supposed) party to use the slightest of backbones in letting the Bush II tax cuts expire for the wealthy – after guaranteeing the opposite.

“President Obama, the Rodney Dangerfield of 2010, gets no respect for” . . . appointing a Deficit Commission, dead-set on gutting Social Security as “austerity”/”self-sacrificing” measures (put off until December to guard the midterm results) – after championing privatization’s opposite.

“President Obama, the Rodney Dangerfield of 2010, gets no respect for” . . . refusing to implement a moratorium on foreclosures – after reams of documents and fifty state attorneys general make it certain that those Institutional denials of conspiratorial Fraud actually seal the opposite.

So, yes, within this “relentless drag on a chief executive who promised change we can believe in,” there is a “fatalistic sense that the stacked economic order that gave us the Great Recession remains not just in place but more entrenched and powerful than ever.” And, within this environment, who gets “punished” “for bad behavior”? The “Professional Left.” But, “Should those [Other] forces prevail, an America that still hasn’t remotely recovered from the worst hard times in 70 years will end up handing over even more power to those who greased the skids.” True, “[President Obama] sometimes looks as if he’s fronting for the industry.” Yet, “Voters [somehow] are . . . failing to give the White House credit for its . . . successes,” and “finding it guilty of transgressions . . .” (since the “White House is hardly innocent”). As a result, how could there be an Enthusiasm Gap?

AP tagline (08/14): “President Barack Obama used the anniversary of Social Security to trumpet Democrats’ support for the popular program and accuse Republicans of trying to destroy it.” Remember the (stacked) Deficit Commission? Key relating quote: “everything on the table.” That was President Obama – including Social Security in the “austerity” mix. As a result, this is Ripe – as election season ploys (note recent articles on the sway of using Social Security as a mid-term campaign issue). “Obama said he’s ‘committed to working with anyone, Democrat or Republican, who wants to strengthen Social Security.'” Somehow, the person who put Social Security “on the table” is also supposed to be the same person who is a champion of “strengthen[ing]” it? (Word game/setup alert: cutting can lead to solvency, even if there are no actual solvency problems.) On one hand, he scores points by “accus[ing] Republicans of trying to destroy,” based on the privatization issue. On the other, he had already opened the door to destruction, based on “self-sacrifice” and “personal responsibility” (after 75 years – and millions upon millions have lost their jobs). This is what’s happening – with “everything on the table”: “Housing crisis reaches full boil in East Point; 62 injured.” This is what’s at stake – under the auspice of “Austerity: “Individual Mandates Bootstrap the Homeless.” This is what’s still going on – while we hear condescending updates on “Shared Sacrifice”: “How Goldman gambled on starvation.” Again, what was the (immediate) main target of Bush II after the 2004 (second stolen) election? Social Security. Since 1935, what has been at the top of ongoing goals for the conservative elite, as far as dismantling programs? Social Security. What was one of the main safety nets we Believed Obama would never allow to be Changed (gutted, step by step)? Social Security. As another domino is set to fall because of his administration’s continuous sellouts, there are no doubts of (progressive) betrayal remaining. The “collective good” they promote is a fascist focus as a guarantee for chosen corporations – and bootstraps as the only guarantee for the masses.

FDR, August 14,1935: “Today a hope of many years’ standing is in large part fulfilled. The civilization of the past hundred years . . . has tended more and more to make life insecure. Young people have come to wonder what would be their lot when they came to old age. The man with a job has wondered how long the job would last. This social security measure gives at least some protection to thirty millions of our citizens who will reap direct benefits through unemployment compensation, through old-age pensions and through increased services for the protection of children and the prevention of ill health.”

And now, we are maybe two “only a sliver” PR cycles (“heated rhetoric“) away from the next Change We Can Heave In. [Other notes: 1) Associated Press: “Unless Congress acts, Social Security’s combined retirement and disability trust funds are expected to run out of money in 2037.” Pure talking points propaganda. Reality: “The wildly pessimistic projections are based on assumptions that the economy will grow an average of 1.8 percent per year for the next 75 years – less than half the rate of the previous 75 years.” 2) Republicans: “An increase in Social Security taxes is out of the question, even for the wealthy.” But, of course.] Update (09/04): Re: Labor Day Irony: The People Who Want to Cut Social Security All Have Great Retirement Plans More Labor Day reflections: The (robber baron) Deficit Commissioners crowd – the “elite” that Bush II referred to as his “base,” the group that President Obama allowed to be purposely stacked into a predetermined place – would have us forget, or evolve from (as in Social Darwinist Commission recommendations) certain history. What are the origins of the Pullman Strike? Why did President Cleveland want to “reconci[le]” with the labor movement? Who was right – the oppressed workers being gouged to early deaths, or rampant, soulless corporatists? What was right – taking the side of “the least among us” while they were under endless siege, or emboldening the assailants further by placating their ongoing looting mentality? Further, where did the eight-hour work day/five-day work week come from? Vacations? Pensions/retirement? Child labor and Safety regulations? Minimum wage? When corporate marauders crashed the (bubbled) system in 1929 (causing the Great Depression), who eventually stood up to Hoover’s status quo – while providing a mutually benevolent renewal of the rules (and opportunities)? FDR. Now, under the most similar of circumstances, ask yourselves: Which president, Hoover or FDR, would have set up a Deficit Commission (selectively biased for the bourgeoisie’s desires)? In relation, what would Bush II have done? Final question: Who presented a populist campaign based on Hope and Change – then went in the opposite direction once at the helm? Update (11/10): “President Obama’s . . . deficit reduction commission just proposed slashing Social Security.” In relation to narratives created by Fox/Koch Brothers, etc., and what was the continuing mindset of the remaining minority, Obama appointed a biased Deficit Commission – during a Second Depression. At the same time, he “Put Social Security on the Table.” Then, the Deficit Commission’s (predetermined) recommendations were put off until after the midterms. Now, with a new House, Obama and the remaining Blue Dogs will seek even more of that (veil of) “Common Ground,” and “Compromise” – while the sacrificed hear further sermons on the sanctity of sacrificing.

Bob Cesca: “I’m pissed off at health care reform.” (Well, maybe it’s more like frustration?) “I’m pissed off that President Obama ‘thanked’ the independent senator from Connecticut even though the senator nearly killed health care reform this week.” (But, I won’t go any further in criticizing the President — who campaigned on “If a mandate was a solution, we could try that to solve homelessness by mandating everyone buy a house” — even though he set the stage for this outcome with sabotaging statements, after the election, like “the Public Option is just one sliver,” has refused from the beginning to stand up for anything remotely progressive, and, was still coddling other corporate sellout senators after they repulsively propagandized the entire nation with “Death Panel” assertions.) “I’m pissed off at the Senate,” “cable news,” “Rahm Emanuel,” and “the Republicans.” (Yet, I’m not going to allow my positive view to be swayed by reality.) “I’m pissed off that I can’t, in good conscience, allow my anger to coerce me into believing that we should ‘kill this bill.’” (Unlike Rep. “Is This the Best We Can Do?” Kucinich, Dr. Howard Dean, Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi, and Michael Moore, I refuse to make a “final straw” stand – no matter how far this goes.) (Like the former Single-Payer champion Rep. Anthony Weiner, who transformed into a dissembling preacher for the administration,) “I have no other choice but to settle for what is. For now.” (True, I could make other choices, like not putting lipstick on pigs. Regardless, I will hold out for anything that passes, and call it a win.) “Lack of insurance,” “medical bankruptcies and deaths” will be overcome. (How? By mandating that everyone buy private policies [“it makes them criminals if they don’t”] — which they cannot affordNow — or, especially Later). Let us not accept pure spin, while we’re being sold out, as “the good.” Let us not forget that what was absolutely possible — in a present tense, is now referred to as “the perfect” — in a past tense.